Distributor rotor with improved contact securing means

ABSTRACT

A distributor rotor is disclosed as including a blade and spring assembly enabling precise adjustment of rotor sweep diameter and rotor blade position prior to final assembly. The blade defines an elongated adjustment opening and the rotor includes a molded rotor body defining an upstanding boss. The assembly further includes a spring for assembly between the blade and the rotor body, the spring defining a boss opening for encircling the boss and a downwardly directed tooth for fixing the position of the spring when embedded into the rotor body. The elongated adjustment opening defined by the blade also fits over the boss so that the insertion of a drive screw into a central opening defined by the boss fixes the assembly. The assembly is accomplished on automatic or semi-automatic assembly equipment.

United States Patent Macyczko et a1. 14 1 May 16 1972 [54] DISTRIBUTORROTOR WITH 1,372,065 3/1921 Conklin ..200/19 A IMPROVED CONTACT SECURING1,494,597 5/1924 Evans ..200/19 A 2,769,047 10/1956 Hartzell et al..200/19 A MEANS Inventors: John Macyczko; Endy China, both of UnionSprings, NY.

Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., New York, N.Y.

Jan. 12, 1971 Assignee:

Int. Cl ..H0lh U50, HOlh 11/06 Field of Search ..200/19 R, 19 DR, 19 A;85/41 References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 12/1923 Evans ..200/19 DRRedick et a1. ....200/19 DR. Bedford, Jr. ..85/41 X Primary Examiner-J.R. Scott Attorney-Amster & Rothstein [57] ABSTRACT A distributor rotoris disclosed as including a blade and spring assembly enabling preciseadjustment of rotor sweep diameter and rotor blade position prior tofinal assembly. The blade defines an elongated adjustment opening andthe rotor includes a molded rotor body defining an upstanding boss. Theassembly further includes a spring for assembly between the blade andthe rotor body, the spring defining a boss opening for encircling theboss and a downwardly directed tooth for fixing the position of thespring when embedded into the rotor body. The elongated adjustmentopening defined by the blade also fits over the boss so that theinsertion of a drive screw into a central opening defined by the bossfixes the assembly. The assembly is accomplished on automatic orsemi-automatic assembly equipment.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented May 16, 1972 3,663 771 uiiiiiiifiil///////'1 w INvELTOR) JOHN MACYCZA O END) C/ll/VA A T 70/8 M5 YSDISTRIBUTOR ROTOR WITH IMPROVED CONTACT SECURING MEANS This inventionrelates generally to distributors for automotive or other uses and moreparticularly to rotor constructions for use in such distributors.

A distributor for automotive and other uses has as its function thedistribution of high voltage, produced in an ignition coil, to the sparkplugs in a desired sequence. A conventional electrical system fordistributors produces voltage through an ignition coil from the battery,the current from the battery flowing through the coil to a switch andthen to ground when the switch is closed. Opening of the ignition switchcauses a current in the ignition coil which flows from there to thecenter electrode of the distributor in the distributor rotor. The centerelectrode of the distributor causes a spark gap to be successivelyformed between a spring-blade assembly and the contact points for thespark plugs in the motor being operated. Various other features of aconventional distributor system will not be described for the purposesof brevity but are presumed to be known by those skilled in the art.

Presently used constructions for enabling the contact between the rotorand spark plugs include a bladeand spring with a rivet holding bothparts in place to maintain the proper blade sweep radius and theelectrical connection desired. It is necessary in such constructions tohold extremely tight tolerances during molding and assembly of the rotoror, as an alternative, the blade is deliberately made long so thatexcess material may be machined off to obtain the proper sweep radius.Such approaches to distributor rotor constructions are difficult tocontrol thereby leading to increase manufacturing costs andinefficiency. Furthermore, it is unlikely thatsuch constructionscan lendthemselves easily to automatic or semiautomatic assembly equipment.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide aspring and blade assembly construction for a distributor rotor whichprovides a less expensive and more efficient structure. I

A further and more particular object is to provide a spring and bladeassembly construction for a distributor rotor which can be molded andassembled on automatic or semiautomatic molding and assembly equipment.

These and other objects are providedin a construction according to thepresent invention which features a distributor rotor body molded toprovide an upstanding boss defining at its center a drive screw opening,a spring member defining a boss openingfor encircling the boss of therotor body and having downstanding first teeth for locking'the spring inplace with respect'to the to rotor body, a blade member of electricallyconductive material defining an elongated adjustment opening foroverlying-the spring member and encircling the boss and a drive screwfor fixing the assembly of the rotor body, the spring member and theblade member by its insertion to the drive screw opening defined by therotor boss. The drive screw further includes downwardly directed secondteeth in its head which are embedded into the blade member to fix thefinal assembly after precise adjustment of the blade sweep diameter andthe other parts of the assembly.

The above brief description as well as other objects, features, andadvantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated byreference to the following detailed description of the preferred,butnonetheless illustrative embodiment when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a distributor rotor body and blade springassembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side, partially sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along theline 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a parts view of the rotor body, spring, blade and drive screwof the present invention; 7

FIG. 4 is a side-sectional exploded parts view of the elements of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top assembly view of a distributor rotor according to thepresent invention with parts broken away for clarity of illustration.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, adistributor rotor is illustrated as having a body generally designated10, the body defining a bottom shaftreceiving opening 12 for receivingthe distributor shaft (not shown) centrally of its diameter.Approximately centrally of a radius of the rotor body, the rotor bodydefines an upstanding boss 14 having a central and downwardly extendingdrive screw opening 16. The boss functions as the pivot point for theblade-spring assembly, generally designated 13, of the distributor rotorwhich is illustrated as including a blade member l8defining an elongatedadjustment opening 18, a spring member 20 having a boss-encirclingopening 20, and a drive screw member 22.

The blade-spring assembly 13 is anchored to the body 10 by the insertionof the'drive screw into the drive screw opening 16. Additionally, firstand second upstanding shoulders 24. 26 on the rotor body 10 function tosnuggly hold the position of the blade-spring assembly 13 relative toits pivot point at the center of the drive screw 22.

- Referring in addition to the other figures of the drawings, the drivescrew 22 (FIGS. 3 and 4) includes a head 30 having downstanding teeth 32which embed into the blade member 18 upon final assembly. The showing ofteeth 32 in FIG. 4 is schematically abbreviated for the purposes ofclarity. In other words, FIG. 3 shows a plurality of teeth 32circumferentially depending from the bottom of head 30, whereas only twoteeth 32 are shown in FIG. 4 so as not to obscure the other details ofscrew 22. Furthermore, the threads 34 of the drive screw are madeslightly oversized relative to theopening 16 to insure a fixedrelationship of the pivot point of the bladespring assembly 13 relativeto the blade-spring assembly itself.

Referring to FIG. 3, specifically, the blade member 18 defines anelongated adjustment opening 18' which has its shorter diameterapproximately of the dimension as' the outside diameter of the boss 14.On the other hand, the larger diameter of the opening 18f is greaterthan the diameter of the boss 14 so that longitudinal adjustment of theblade member 18 may be made before final assembly of the blade-springassembly tothe rotor body 10. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the spring member 20 isshown to include a body portion 20a for underlying the blade uponassembly therewith,downwardly depending teeth 20d and a spring portion20b defining a contact protrusion 200 for making the desired electricalcontact for the blade-spring assembly.

In order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention atypical assembly operation will now be described.

Assembly of the blade-spring assembly 13 with the distributor rotor body10 includes the steps of fitting the boss opening 20' of spring 20 tothe boss 14 and the end of the spring bodyportion 20a between shoulders24, 26 of the rotor body 10. The downwardly depending teeth20d of thespring body 20a are then driven into the rotor body 10 by a mallet ofthe like. Next, the elongated blade adjustment opening 18' is placedover spring 20 so that the blade encircles the boss 14 and the blade ismoved forward and backward longitudinally until the proper blade sweepradius is obtained. The drive screw 22 is then placed into the drivescrew opening 16 and driven into the opening so that its teeth 32 embedinto the blade 18 and fix the blade-spring assembly 13 relative to therotor body 10.

In accordance with the foregoing description, a blade-spring assembly 13is provided in combination with a distributor rotor body 10 havingupstanding shoulders 24, 26 and an upstanding boss 14. The boss 14defines a central, downwardly extending opening 16. The blade springassembly 13 includes a spring member 20, a blade member 18, and a drivescrew 22.

The spring member 20 includes a body portion 20a underlying prior tofinal assembly. The drive screw 22 includes threads 34 slightlyoversized relative to the drive screw opening 16 and a head 30 providingdownwardly extending second teeth 32 to fix the blade spring assemblyrelative to the rotor body 10.

Such teeth embed into the blade member 18 when the head of the drivescrew 22 is driven by a mallet or the like upon completion of theassembly.

WHAT IS CLAIMED 1S:

1. A distributor rotor having a rotor body and a blade-spring assemblyfor distributing current from an ignition coil to spark plugs in aninternal combustion engine, said blade-spring assembly comprising aspring member, a blade member overlying said spring member and definingan elongated adjustment opening, said spring member defining a bossopening and including downwardly depending teeth for embedding into saidrotor body and means for attaching said assembly to said rotor.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said means comprises adrive screw for insertion through said adjustment opening and said bossopening into a central opening.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein said drive screw includesa head having downwardly depending teeth for embedding into said blademember.

4. The combination with a distributor rotor including a body havingupstanding shoulders and a boss defining a central, downwardly extendingdrive screw opening, of a blade-spring assembly mounted on said body fordistributing current, said assembly comprising a blade member fabricatedof an electrically conductive material, a spring member between saidblade member and said rotor body, said spring member includingdownwardly depending teeth for embedding into said body and defining aboss opening for encircling said boss and said blade member defining anelongated adjustment opening for encircling said boss and for enablingadjustment of blade sweep radius prior to final assembly, and a drivescrew for insertion through said adjustment opening and said bossopening into said drive screw opening and including a head, said headhaving downwardly depending teeth for embedding into said blade, saidblade and spring members being sized to fit snuggly between saidshoulders.

1. A distributor rotor having a rotor body and a blade-spring assemblyfor distributing current from an ignition coil to spark plugs in aninternal combustion engine, said blade-spring assembly comprising aspring member, a blade member overlying said spring member and definingan elongated adjustment opening, said spring member defining a bossopening and including downwardly depending teeth for embedding into saidrotor body and means for attaching said assembly to said rotor.
 2. Theinvention according to claim 1 wherein said means comprises a drivescrew for insertion through said adjustment opening and said bossopening into a central opening.
 3. The invention according to claim 2wherein said drive screw includes a head having downwardly dependingteeth for embedding into said blade member.
 4. The combination with adistributor rotor including a body having upstanding shoulders and aboss defining a central, downwardly extending drive screw opening, of ablade-spring assembly mounted on said body for distributing current,said assembly comprising a blade member fabricated of an electricallyconductive material, a spring member between said blade member and saidrotor body, said spring member including downwardly depending teeth forembedding into said body and defining a boss opening for encircling saidboss and said blade member defining an elongated adjustment opening forencircling said boss and for enabling adjustment of blade sweep radiusprior to final assembly, and a drive screw for insertion through saidAdjustment opening and said boss opening into said drive screw openingand including a head, said head having downwardly depending teeth forembedding into said blade, said blade and spring members being sized tofit snuggly between said shoulders.